Car-coupling



(No Model) C. H. TAYLOR.

CAR GOUlELINGr.V

No. 579,503. Patented Mar. 2s', 1897.

Figi.

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i TATES CHARLES II. TAYLOR, OF SOUTH ORANGE, NEW JERSEY.

CAR-COUPLING.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 579,503, dated March23, 189'?.

Application lled August 24, 1896. Serial No. 603,719. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES H. TAYLOR, a citizen of the United States,and a resident of South Orange, Essex county, State of New Jersey, haveinvented new and useful Improvements in Car-Couplers, of which thefollowing description, taken in connection with the drawings herewithaccompanying, is a specification.

My invention relates to car-couplers. It has been found in practicethat, the lockingpin or other locking device for holding the hook orknuckle in a closed coupling position has a tendency, when the cars arein service, to work or jolt upward from their locking position andrelease the hook or knuckle held thereby. The trouble, inconvenience,and danger arising from such unlocking of the coupling-hook when thecars areA in service, whereby the cars or portions of the train willbecome disconnected and separated, will be obvious; and it has been theobject of my present invention to provide means whereby the pin or otherlocking device will be held in a locked vertically stationary positionwhen the cars are in service, and thereby avoid the results attendingthe unlocking of the hook at such time. This object I secure by themeans forming my invention, as hereinafterset forth in detail, andpointed out in the claims.

Referring to the drawings, Figure l represents a plan view of a couplerembodying my invention; and Fig. 2 represents a cross-section of thesame through line 2 2, also showing in full and dotted lines differentpositions of the pin to be hereinafter referred to.

To explain in detail, a represents the drawhead of a coupler, b thepivoted horizontallymoving coupling hook or knuckle, and c thevertically-moving locking-pin, which is supported within an opening a inthe draw-head and adapted to engage with the inner arm b of the knuckleto hold the latter in a closed coupling position in the usual manner, aswell understood by those skilled in the art.

The coupling-pin c engages upon one side thereof with the inner arm b ofthe knuckle to hold the latter in a closed position, as described, andduring service, when an outward strain is applied to the coupling-jaw ofthe i knuckle by the weight of the connecting` car or cars, the innerarm of the knuckle is held against the pin and forces the latter againstthe opposite or opposing wall of the opening a in the draw-head in whichthe pin is supported, as will be readily understood. according to mypresent invention, and in order to prevent the said locking-pin frombeing raised or thrown upward by the jolting movement of the car duringsuch time as the car is in service, I have provided the lockingpin witha projection c upon that side thereof opposite which the knuckle-armengages and provided the adjacent wall of the pin-openin g Now,

a with a stop projection a2, which latter is Y located in a positionrelative to the projection on the l pin so as to engage with the latterprojection only when the pin is in a lowered locking position and thecar is in service, in a manner as follows: The pin-opening a', alsoaccording to my invention, is of somewhat greater width at a pointbelowT its upper end than the diameter of the pin, whereby the lower endof the latter may be laterally movable in said opening, so as to bemoved to bring the projection thereon into position to engage with thestop projection a2 or be moved back from such position to allow itsprojection c to pass said stop projection when the pin is raised.

By means of the above construction, when the coupler or the car on whichit is attached is in service and a strain is applied upon thecoupling-jaw of the knuckle, the inner knuckle-arm acts against thelockingpin and moves the same laterally against the opposing wall of thepin-opening with the projection c thereon immediately below and inposition to engage with the stop projection c2, as shown in Fig. 2. Thepin is held in this position so long as the car is in service and whilethe knuckle-arm is held against the same and is prevented by the stopprojection a2 from being moved from such locking position. W'hen the caris stopped and the pressure of the knuckle against the pin is therebyremoved, the said pin then swings or moves to its normal verticalposition, as shown by dotted lines in Fig. 2, in which position the pinmay be readily raised from locking position to release the knuckle, asthe width of IOO removed from the knuckle in case the inner arm of thelatter has not been moved sufiiciently far from the pin to allow thelatter to drop to its normal vertical position by gravity, as will beunderstood. In some instances it might be desirable to locate a springbetween the pin and the wall of its opening in the drawhead to movablyhold the pin in its normal vertical position.

I'Iaving thus set forth my invention, it will be obvious that theparticular construction and arrangement of the several parts asillustrated and described may be more or less materially modifiedwithout departure from my invention. For instance, the locking-pin maybe of sufficient length to extend below the lower edge of the draw-headand have the projection c thereon arranged to engage with the latter atthe under side thereof, and thus avoid the necessity of forming theprojection a2 within the opening a therein, or thelocking-pinconstructed and arranged within a draw-head as described would beoperated in the same manner to be locked in its lowered position and bereleased from such position when used in connection with an ordinarycoupling-link as with the pivoted knuckle, as described; or, again, thelocking device maybe of some other and different form from that of thelong pin, as shown. These and other like changes may be made withoutdeparture from the scope of my invention as set forth in theaccompanying claims.

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of theUnited States, is-

l. In a car-coupler, the combination with the draw-head and the couplingdevice, of a locking device supported within an opening in the draw-headfor engaging with said coupling device, and provided with a projectionthereon for engaging with a part of the drawhead when the locking deviceis in a lowered position, the said opening in the draw-head being ofsufficient width or size as to allow of a lateral movement of thelocking device therein to release its projection from engagementwith thedraw-head,substantiall y as and for the purpose set forth.

2. In a car-coupler, the combination with the draw-head and the couplingdevice, of a vertically -movable lockingbolt supported within an openinginthe draw-head for engaging with said coupling device, and providedwith a projection thereon for engaging with a stop projection in thedraw-head, the said opening in the draw-head being of sufiicient widthor size as to allow a lateral movement of the locking-bolt therein,whereby the projection thereon may be moved to and from a position forengaging with the stop projection on the draw-head, substantially as andfor the purpose set forth.

3. In a car-coupler, the combination with the draw-head and a pivotedcoupling hook or knuckle, of a vertically-movable lockingbolt supportedwithin an openin g in the draw'- head and provided with a projectionthereon for engaging with a stop projection within said opening in thedraw-head, the engaging surfaces of said projections being formed at anincline, and the said opening in the drawhead being of sufficient widthas to allow of a lateral movement of the locking-bolt therein, wherebythe projection thereon may be moved to and from a position for engagingwith the said'stop projection, substantially as and for the purpose setforth.

CHAS. I-I. TAYLOR.

W'itnesses:

GHAs. F. DANE, A. L. HAYES.

